HBO and Amazon Prime Strike Major Streaming Deal: Which Series Made the Cut?

HBO has long been a thorn in the side of streaming media enthusiasts, only licensing its content to be accessed through HBO GO, unlike the Netflix and Amazon Prime models that have become so commonplace in recent years. Now, the pay-cable network struck a surprising Amazon Prime deal to deliver streams of a variety of shows past and present, but don't expect to start that 'Game of Thrones' marathon just yet.

Beginning May 21, Amazon Prime members will have unlimited streaming access to all seasons of 'The Sopranos,' 'The Wire,' 'Deadwood,' 'Rome,' 'Six Feet Under,' 'Eastbound & Down,' 'Enlightened' and 'Flight of the Conchords,' in addition to select seasons of 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Treme' and 'True Blood.' The landmark deal also includes such miniseries as 'Angels in America,' 'Band of Brothers,' 'John Adams,' 'The Pacific' and 'Parade’s End,' along with original movies like 'Game Change' and 'Too Big To Fail' and a selection of documentaries and original comedy specials.

That said, more recent HBO series, like 'Girls,' 'The Newsroom' and 'Veep,' will become available on Amazon Prime three years after airing on the network. Additionally, such landmark HBO offerings, like 'Sex and the City,' 'Entourage,' 'Game of Thrones' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' were left off the announcement entirely. Lest we forget, the deal will also see HBO GO available on Amazon’s Fire TV service by the end of 2014.

It's definitely a bit step to have HBO licensing out its content at last, and should well put Amazon Prime on a toe-to-toe relationship with Netflix, but what do you think? Are you happy to have at least some HBO series available outside of a cable package?